Draft-link.



Inmo/Mov T. H. SYMINGTON.

DRAFT LINK.

APPLICATION FILED FBB.5,1913.

2 SHEETS-SUBT- 1.

Patented May 26, 1914.

T. H. SYMINGTON.

lDRAFT LINK. v APPLICATION FILED FEB.5, 1913.

Patented May 26, 1914i 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

transmit the entire shock in buiiing and thi-s member applies@ bers 'nicnas' nalimrson sYMINeToN, or BALTIMORE. MARYLAND.

Specification of letters latent.

Patented May 26, 1914.

application ined rmuary-fs, lala. serial No. 746,297.

To all fwhom it'may cmwe'm': j Be it known that I, THOMAS TON, *a citizen of the United 4States of' America, residing at the ci-ty of Baltimore, I

State of Mar land, have .invented certain. new and use. lul Improvements in Draft- Links, of which the following-is a 'specification.

This invention relates to railwa,

'draft gears, and particularly to a link an to the 4combination 'of parts, including the link by means .of which draft and builing stresses are taken up and distributed..

use, drawing stresses are transmitted to the rear follower or to the rear key by tension "l, Iii the various types of draft gear now in s 15 members which are parallel to each otherand parallel to the longitudinal axis of theI draft gear and of the car. These tension! members.l whether theyl bev in the form of two links in each draftgear or inthe form 7of the arms of a yoke, are so shaped that they g are necessarily placed one at each side of;

the shockabsorbing'. member, extending .from the point where the f receive t-he tension o-f the dIaW'baI, bac ardA to the rear key :or the rear follower which is .variously engaged by tension members in the di'erent types of draft gear. With the tension memthus placed, ,one at each side of the shock-absorbin within the dra -t beams, theyare spaced well member and' immediately apart and the .drawing and buiiing forces and the reaction due to the inertia of the load are ap lied' at 4points, which' are comparativelyl of the .keys and followers. Therefore the keys and followers are necessarily constructistant in the direction of the length ed to withstand a considerable bending moment and shearing stress. This is particularly true in the case of therear follower or key which in a large number of draft gears now l biered to the trade must receive andt to the shock-absorb# which coperatejtherewi'th in receiving and 'structed particularly with the buillng and drawing stresses a t gear described herein, are co na View to so distributi-ng these 'stresses that while 'the weight distribut' in the while in bufiing the thrust is' 0f the draft gear is considerably reduced, its etlic-iency an the simpl-icity ofthe structure are at the same time increased, and this reduction in weight applies not only to the links themselves' but to the followers, keys and other coperating parts. More particulaily described, the links which are an important feature of the invention, instead 'of being longitudinallyextending bars or plates apertured at various vpoints to admit the keys ontoengage the followers, such as arey `ordinarily employed, are constructed each.

in the form of an elongated loop having a lateral dimension sufiicient to admit the yshock-absorbing member. The links thus formed, whilethe are preferably placed at their forward en s one on each side of the draw-bar, are not necessarily parallel to each other'or-fto the :axis of the dra-ft gear when in operative position, as they are of sutlicient dimension to admit and inclose the whole or a part of the shock-absorbingmember.

rIllius they may be conyeniently placed so that they converge toward the rear, and the drawing stress is th'us applied to the rear follower at points alined in a longitudinal direction with the bearing whichl that follower takes on the rear end of the shockabsorbing member. Thus in drawing the stress applied to the rear follower takes the' forni of compression rather than shearing or bendin moment. In this way the tendency to benc or shear the rear follower in drawing is entirely eliminated and it is conse-v quently rendered possible to make the follower of less weight. Further, by forming .the links as described and'placing them so that they converge toward the rear it is. made possible to -increase the lateral dimensions of the draw-bar stops, so that they extend inward to points which are substantially alined in a longitudinal direction with points on the rear bearing face of the shockabsorbing member. Thus the bu'iing as well as the drawing stresses applied to the rea-'r follower take the form of compression ra'tl'ier' than bending moment.

In the accompanying drawing have illustrated draft links of two different types,

both embodying the features of the invention 1c;L

is a section of the same taken -on the line 2, 2 of Figui; Fig. .3 is' a plan of a draft 110 link @f a. siighe'y emmereypeemegiying the invention. "Figis section faen on" the line el, 4: of Fig. 3.

Beferrno to the drawings by-nnmerle,`

each of which indicates the same or equivalent "ports" in v"the" difleiler'itA g'giues, Idie dra'f gear includes a draw-bar l yand a1 shock-- absorbing member 2. ln Figsxl and 2 there arefshownm front lzey 8 and. areariley et@ is Slotted vtoreeei-Ve yand4 supported, on .the

drat-beams and cheek-.plates .8, the rear; key.preferablyserVing :is a front stop. The bui-ling stre'ssesiore appliedto the'shockf absorbing member. .Q by means- O a. front.:

follower 9.-plncedvbetween. the near endof; the ,drawfbaiv and the liront` end ,ofthe shock-absorbing. member 2. .This followe..

rear key. At .the rearnthe`- drawing, stresses" zure communicated to the Shockabsorbing member.y 2 and thebulling stresses,` are .transmitted to; the .freine by means of. a.

' rear. folloi'verilO and rear.l Stopsll.V` The drawing stresses fare transmitted froiniihe clralwgfbar.. in this instance ihroiigh .the lier- Ward key .3. to .therear follower l0 bymeens of links l2,A which, .as stated, f re, an iniportantfeature ofthe .presentv inntion.,y

The-selinks, asseen inplairin Fg. 1' lWhileA they'areplaeedronelon each side of the draw-v bar at theforwardend, converge-toward the rear vso 'that zit-,this point they approach the center l-ine'iof the'draft gear, and in order that they; may.. be so placed, in 4the structure shown;I 'they are eonstrncfced Aeach in, the formof' :in elongated loop., see Fig. 1 the loop beingplaeed with its lopening in a Yeriiealplane. inthe presenh instanceas illustrated, the forward@ end .ofI each linli- .moet engage! the-.forward keyv 3 and receive from this key the drawing. stresses applied' to the draw-bar, and to this end in order thnt the loop may l-be so formed as .tQresiSblhe stresses applied Without being' distorted, the forward portionof the'loop is. redueedat' 13 as shown'in' Fig. 2 untillthe .nternaleuigve at' ilsl extreme' forward.y end is only. einholen@ to leonfornr tol `the..corresponding er e or 'die hey.' Freni this point the wins of fthe loop diverge-5f :is Shown, at :in ,anglegpre'fer-- abbr about until .thefgreatest lateral mensionof the loopje' reachedaitl.

loopfare lshownwns parallel, .and to preven; collapse or -distort-ioni.ofchedoor) under 'extreme tensiom:l it ..is LSupported et the points by '21,. .'crniisverse` member *151 thoughyiithmay be; A'otherWise conenie "fl braced or strengthenedivithin die jee/ o3 the finienion Ae the regirtheloop "f eraloly cur-veel asshowir b'l im.

transmit the drawing Stresses to lie fob" lower 10, which is moet. convenienly and isiprevie Thr; ilse) -volinl's and the head 19 overlies Emre this' peint rearward che sides or legs orfehe economically made, Seil?, @rife links. .To this emi ib is con? eentrl rib or spacing member head 15h-' The rib i8 servee to the rear and prevents displeeemen,

-il'ler as Well as oi the links. Wherehe links bear on he iller,..mrlfdlyieelined Seats' 20" are provided which eenferm' .tez hee corresponding surfa'oes .of he linlsi These tendto vthrow the links. inward; @Ward the.: "rib f 18. eind. to position. .the linlminiI rlQl. "tothe lille'ix Alsoitlie'reerstsfll .Qmli

'the lat-ter'cannot be displaced laterally and thrown out'. of engagemenbvifigli ,the iller.

In Figreaadrat, gear haebeenilluslr Whichs 'provided with from; steps?" front fol-lower 22 toengege the stopai gear has a Single Alrey Wh lli by.; en. ion o, the

their einer alinement-'N 'l Thnshe fsemeiozil'heii h 3 the dreist linlr's d described "o if be 'he pre used, and it will also be aimerait hei',

libri; 'im

` Whole draft gear is simple in-form and efcient, in that the stresses-.are so `distributed thatthey. are resisted to the best advantage; `l have thus. described specifically a single .embodiment of my invention in order that its nature and operation may be clearly unyzderstood. However, the specific terms` .herein are used in' their descriptive rather- 'than in their limiting sense and the scope of .theI invention is defined in the claims:

I claim-- 1. A draft gear consisting oit a draw-bar, a shock-absorbing member, two converging links, v.each having its lateral surfaces flat and thel cross-section ofV its arms\.\s1 1bstan tially uniform, means-'connecting the-links.

Aat their forward ends' -to.- the draw-bar,

means for applying the drawing 'stresses transmitted -to .the links by the .draw-bar' to the *rear end .of the shock-absorbing mem- Iber, and 'means 'for applying the buiing stresses to the shockfabsorbing memben 2. In a draft gear, a draw-bar, two links, a shock-absorbing member, the links being -iat as to their lateral surfaceshaving their 'arms of substantially uniform cross-section,

.shock-absorbing member, and means for and having an. opening sufiicient to receive and admit the shock-absorbing member, and placed so that they converge from the front to the rear and partially inclose thev transmitting links.

3; In a draft the drawing stresses -to the gear, ay draw-bar, two links.,

- a shock-absorbing member, the links yhaving an ,Opening suiicient to receive and admit the shoclnabsorbing member a/hd f being placed so that they converge from the'front to the rear, the lateral surfaces -of the links being fla-t and the armsof thef links being of uniform crosslsection, the rear ends of the links being alined in the direction of the -lon'-l gitudinal axis of the draft gear with'the rear. bearing surface of the sho ck-absorbing member."'

4. In va draft gear, a draw-bar, two links, .a shock-absorbing' member, the links having an opening suiiicient to receive and admit the. shock-absorbing ,member and being -placed so that they converge froml the front to the rear, and means for transmitting `the drawing stresses appliedto.' the'rlinks the latter to the rear. end of the shockgbf sorbmg'member, the rear ends of thelink's .e

being alined in .the direction of the' longttndinal axis of the draft' gear with,tl 1e rear bearing surface .of -th'e shock-absorbing-mem placediso thatthey converge from the front. to the rear, -and'means for transmitting tk.

. drawing stresses applied-tothe links from-E6 shock-absorbing member, a' key seated. e 'fi-a of-an elongated loop reduced'atits forward "7 the vdraw-.bar slot, links each in 'the'fformend inclosing the key at th'at'endjand placedoneon each side of .the draw-bar, s 'a-id converging toward the rear and vhaving `their rear lpt )rtions alined inthe d'irec'fcanil f!! ofthe longit'iidina'l axis of the draftgear' withthe rear .bearing -silrface of theiilient member.

shock-absorbing member, a key. seated. in the. draw-barslot, linksl each in the -form 5fan elongated loop reduced at its forward'end inclosing.; the key at that vend andf placed one on. each-side ofthe draw-bar, saidlinks' -.9Q. tien of thev -shockQabsorbing .niembclgand' converging'toward the rear in'closing a porhaving their rear portions alinedin thev di-l rectionfof the longitudinal axis of 'the ,j

-gear with the rear'bearing surfaceof-lthe resilient member..`

Witnesses: vDWIGHT F. MALLonY,

T01 WRIGHT,VA

5. In a draft gear, a draw-bar, two-links, j a shocklabsorbing member, the'linksjhaw 69. ing an opening .suieient to.receive alMl-df` i mit Vthe shock-absorbing'member 'and -7.' Ina .draftgean a slotted. 'drawbar, a S5 ,signed .by meat B1timoreny,`sfai of Maryland, this 3rd day of,February, 191 3. 

